You just never know what you are going to learn from Ars Technica. Today they have an article discussing the findings of some Swedish researchers on the survival rates of women and children in shipwrecks. Turns out the Titanic was a fluke (in more ways than one) and women and children historically haven’t fared well when a boat is going down. “What group has the best chance at surviving a sinking ship?”, you ask? Why it’s the crew, followed by the captain. IN YOUR FACE PASSENGERS!

Today’s “That’s cool!” brought to you by “Symphony of Science” Lots of auto-tuned stuff but I really enjoyed this guys work. I love the way the various scientist’s enthusiasm, optimism, curiosity and pure joy at doing what they do, come through in this work. Check out the other videos at the Symphony of Science website.

Never thought I’d have a post with the tags: cool, music and science at once.

This page over on ‘The Oil Drum‘ has the latest information about the latest attempt by BP to shut down the oil gushing into the gulf. These guys seem to know what they are talking about. It’s actually kind of refreshing compared to the Mainstream News I’ve seen.